Transitioning

There is actually more to Indiana than corn and soy bean fields! Amazing. My kids were pleasantly surprised to know that if you drive far enough north and far enough west in Indiana you will reach the Indiana Dunes on the shore of Lake Michigan. ( Besides the beach, best perk #2 would have to be the Krispy Kreme restaurant in Lafayette - Exit 172 is permanently drilled into my memory! )

Alan Wright is the Assitant Pastor at the New Life Wesleyan Church in Chesterton, IN. Al is currently in the thick of leading his church through the Sunday School - Small Group transition. I had the privilege of preaching in the two morning services and then leading a small group leaders training session after lunch ( thanks again for that chocolate cake! ) This church is a small group lab of sorts for anyone who would like to offer more opportunities for transformation in their church. It's not that we are trying to do away with Sunday School. What we all want to accomplish is changed lives.

I was really impressed with the quality of his leaders and their desire to see everyone enter into authentic relationships and community. Way to go Al! Lead on!

Do you have a similar story? Where is your church in this transition?

Last word: Yes, I have been working extra hard in the gym this week to combat the donuts and cake ;->

3 Trends Affecting Sunday School

I caught this article this week over at www.lifeway.com ( Don't tell anyone that I surf Baptist websites!! ) :-0

Here are the three trends cited by the author, Dawn Cornelius:

1. Postmoderns -- Dawn is saying that we need to take a missionary approach to postmoderns if we ever hope to influence them through ministries like Sunday School. We cannot ignore the postmodern mindset or hope that it will go away. Churches that want to make a difference will seek to understand postmoderns and how to engage them spiritually.

2. Technology -- Yeah, we've been saying this for years...and I am constantly amazed at the archaic resources we use in Sunday School. It's as if the rest of the world is flying a jumbo jet and Sunday School is coming down the road on a beat up bicycle. Dawn mentions podcasting as an example of a new technology that can easily be leveraged for the benefit of your Sunday School.

3. Community -- the buzzword of this decade in terms of how people will most likely be discipled. Look at your Sunday School and ask, "Are we creating safe environments of community where people can do life together?" Maybe you aren't sure what we mean by community. Here's a tip: If your classes are still a bunch of chairs aimed at a teacher who prepares 2 hours of material to deliver in 1 hour...you probably are not achieving community!

There's the 3. What do you think? What other trends do you see? How have these affected your Sunday School or group ministry?

Spring Life

The pics below are the front and back of a postcard mailing that went out to every Wesleyan Church this summer. SpringLife is a joint effort of the Spiritual Formation Department and the Department of Evangelism and Church Growth. The idea is to take the best of the former Heaven Week ( SFD ) and 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting ( E&CG ) programs and create a new emphasis for the Lent - Easter season. SpringLife will be full of helpful ideas and resources for leading your church into a season of relational evangelism and effective discipleship ( invite people to church, present the gospel, follow up with discipleship ). This FREE resource will be available in early 2007.

Your thoughts??

Spring Life

Summer Reading

If you are going to lead then you have to read. Readers are learners. When you stop reading you stop having anything new to say.

Outside of my required reading for my Masters program, here are a couple of ministry books that I've been into this summer: I finished "Leading from the Second Chair" - a book about being the best 2nd level leader you can be for your organization; now I am into "Simple Church" by Thom Rainer. The subtitle on this one is, "returning to God's process for making disciples".

Reviews: Second chair was a decent read although I found myself skimming and looking for the real meat of the issue a few times. I would say it is a recommended read for anyone who feels like they will always be an assistant to someone or for anyone who struggles with following someone elses vision, etc. Simple Church is actually very good. As usual, Rainer has done gobs of research and has found that churches that do less are more effective for the kingdom than program heavy churches. I recommend it for pretty much everyone. It would be a good book to go through with a church board.

What are you reading?

Summer Ministry

The dog days of summer! Unfortunately we let a lot of our ministries go to the dogs during the summer! I agree that it's good to give people a rest and that most events ( other than grilling and pool parties ) don't get great attendance in the summer. There are some churches though that try to make the most of the summer months and offer some creative connecting opportunities for people. Rich Avery, ( one of my adult ministry cabinet members ) from the Kentwood Community Church, gave his small group leaders the opportunity of a "Neighborhood Block Party in a Bag". Leaders picked up their 'bag of goodies' at the church, registered their neighborhood and then hosted the party at their house. This is a great example of helping your congregation use the summer to build relationships with the pre-churched.

How about where you are? Are you doing anything interesting this summer that we could share with others? Hit the comment button and let me know.

Off to Beulah Camp

Beulah Camp is one of three camps operated by the Atlantic District of the Wesleyan Church. If you have never been to Beulah, but know someone who has, you are probably tired of hearing about it. If you have been there, then you know what we mean! I'll be there for the next two weeks! www.beulahcamp.com www.atlanticdistrict.com